Turkey closes borders as thousands of Syrian and Kurdish refugees surge towards country

The number of refugees fleeing to Turkey from the advance of Isis has hit 100,000, according to an AP report.

Dr Fuat Oktay, the head of Turkey's AFAD disaster management agency said the figure relates to Syrians escaping the area near the Syrian border town of Kobani, where fighting has raged between the Isis (Islamic State) and Kurdish fighters.

The UN refugee agency recently said that around 70,000 Syrians have crossed into Turkey in the past day and that it was preparing for the arrival of hundreds of thousands more.

The Syrian refugees, who are mostly ethnic Kurds, are desperate to cross in to Turkey and escape Islamic State fighters who are launching a concerted attack across Syria.

Civilians flee Islamic State advances

On Sunday, violent skirmishes were fought between the Islamic State and Kurdish fighters a few miles from Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab.

Islamic State are targeting villagers with heavy artillery fire and multiple rocket launchers said Nasser Haj Mansour, an official at the defence office in Syria.

"They are even targeting civilians who are fleeing," Haj Mansour told The Associated Press.

Clashes broke out as Kurds surged forward at the crossing from inside Turkey and protested with security forces, who attacked crowds with tear gas, paint pellets, and water.

Mohammed Osman Hamme, a Syrian Kurdish refugee who managed to make his way across, told AP he fled with his wife and small children from the village of Dariya in the Raqqa province 10 days previously when he heard that the Islamic State group was headed their way.

Severed heads hang in streets

The family walked for three days, passing the town of Tell Abiad, near the Turkish border, where they saw four severed heads hanging in the streets, he said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Islamic State has taken control of 64 villages in north-eastern Syria since the fighting began there on Wednesday 17 September.

The fate of 800 Kurds from these villages is unknown, they said, adding that the Islamic State group had executed 11 civilians.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman, Selin Unal urged the international community to increase its aid for Syrian refugees in Turkey, who already number around 1.5 million.

"Turkey is assisting with all needs, but it's huge numbers," she said.